Great historical perspective on Southern California’s reverence for water and fights over it. The piece does a good job of framing the current fight between the San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District in a historical context in a region that is defined by those battles — and only here because of the water they’ve yielded.

Economists often argue that public financing of stadiums is a waste because revenue goes mainly to wealthy players and even wealthier owners, rather than to average taxpayers more likely to spend their money locally.

Dennis Coates, an economist at the University of Maryland Baltimore County who wrote a report opposing the stadium deal in 2004, said sports facilities only redistribute leisure spending. “Does it make sense to spend all those tax dollars on a stadium that will just attract the entertainment dollar from Georgetown or Adams Morgan to the ballpark area?” he asked.

But, he said, if the city’s goal was to win more of suburbanites’ leisure spending, “there could be a net gain for the District. If you stole from Virginia and Maryland, good on you,” he said.

That appears to be exactly what’s happened. Nationals officials say fans coming to games are about 60 percent from Virginia, 25 percent from Maryland and 15 percent from the District. That means city residents are slightly overrepresented, Marylanders lag well behind, and Virginians make a strongly disproportionate contribution to city coffers.

Great historical perspective on Southern California’s reverence for water and fights over it. The piece does a good job of framing the current fight between the San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District in a historical context in a region that is defined by those battles — and only here because of the water they’ve yielded.

Economists often argue that public financing of stadiums is a waste because revenue goes mainly to wealthy players and even wealthier owners, rather than to average taxpayers more likely to spend their money locally.

Dennis Coates, an economist at the University of Maryland Baltimore County who wrote a report opposing the stadium deal in 2004, said sports facilities only redistribute leisure spending. “Does it make sense to spend all those tax dollars on a stadium that will just attract the entertainment dollar from Georgetown or Adams Morgan to the ballpark area?” he asked.

But, he said, if the city’s goal was to win more of suburbanites’ leisure spending, “there could be a net gain for the District. If you stole from Virginia and Maryland, good on you,” he said.

That appears to be exactly what’s happened. Nationals officials say fans coming to games are about 60 percent from Virginia, 25 percent from Maryland and 15 percent from the District. That means city residents are slightly overrepresented, Marylanders lag well behind, and Virginians make a strongly disproportionate contribution to city coffers.